Recently, diverse environmental regulations have strengthened and research has been developed to suppress environmental pollution. According to such environmental regulations, extensive research pursuing improvement in fuel efficiency of a vehicle have been conducted, and also a demand for high-power car engines has increased.
As the engine power increases, the heat resistance limitation of a highly heat-resistant Al—Si—Cu—Ni alloy, especially an Al-12Si-3Cu-2Ni alloy, is estimated to be about 110 bar. With the aim of manufacturing pistons for higher-power engines (e.g., 130 bar or greater) in the future, a novel heat-resistant aluminum alloy with improved in high-temperature properties has to be developed above all, and furthermore, reducing the weight of engine parts is also required to improve fuel efficiency and decrease exhaust emissions.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.